Monday, May 28, 2007

I tried sending Google feedback (they say you can here) ... but I couldn't find any place to actually send feedback to them (let me know when you find it) about the one issue I HATE the most on the web now: localization

Everytime I type in "google.com" it automatically takes me to google.cz -- and the page is in Czech. Now, I live in the Czech Republic and I speak Czech quite well ... but, I want google.com and in English, not google.cz in Czech. I have changed my language settings, but to no avail -- I always get freaking google.cz. I hate it to death. Other web sites do it, too, and I hate it to death. I am going to compile a hit list soon ... it's driving me nutz!

At least give us a REAL opportunity to say we want it in English -- or -- let us view the page man, for Christ's sake! You'd think Google, with all of their "brains" (again, check their "feedback" page...) they'd be able to get this right.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Well, so I tried installing Smart2Go maps on my Wi-Fi enabled Mio P550 .... installation was fine (fine = as reported by a gang and grip of other people, I could not even download the installation cab file via the IE browser on the PDA, since the "download" button does not work on the PDA -- I had to download it via my PC and then transfer it to the PDA via Bluetooth).

I established my Wi-Fi connection on my PDA, and then surfed to Greece to check to see if it worked -- NOPE. Never got anything. I only saw maps seemingly work for Italy and Germany -- I waited like 30 minutes, and maps for Greece and the Czech Republic never came up. Great stuff.

Then silly ol'me thinks that, I'll just use the MapLoader to load up the maps. So, I download the MapLoader that Smart 2 Go offers -- but *naturally*, I could not get the MapLoader to recognize my SD card in my card reader, nor could I get the MapLoader to reconize my PDA as "USB Storage." Complete junk.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I really couldn't get it to work -- it got uninstalled. Not to "smart" Smart2Go ... not to smart. You guys might want to really focus on usability and actually make this stuff work.

Friday, May 18, 2007

This post is mainly for me, so I can remind myself to test these maps on my WM5 device ... but, in case you've been living in a cave the last year, you can download FREE Global maps for your Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition or Windows Mobile 5 platform device absolutely free from Smart 2 Go:

Since I have not yet purchased a new phone yet (still fighting with choice -- Nokia N95 or some kinda WM5 phone), I will have to download -- but, I believe that all Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition devices come with this software pre-installed. But, if not, you can download it from this site and use the maps feature for free. Navigation will cost you a few pretty pennies, though.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Microsoft likes to make a big deal about how it's an innovative company (we all know that 800lb. gorillas are not innovators, but that's another story) ... well, they seem to fool me with every new release of Pocket PC, because I truly do not see anything innovative on this platform. A few months ago, I purchased a Mio Digiwalker 550 for GPS navigation in my car. This comes fully loaded with Pocket PC 2005 (now called Windows Mobile 5). Looking back at my Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket LOOX with Pocket PC 2002 -- I do not see anything innovative aside from a few minor UI tweaks that should have taken a day or two to complete, not 3 years. (unless they have a part-time college student coding the entire Pocket PC platform)

The most clear example of its lack of innovation can be quickly noticed when you fire up IE on this platform. What's the difference between iExplorer on Pocket PC 2002 and 2005? Not much. On 2002, you have a "Fit to Screen" option in the view menu, whereas on Windows Mobile 5 you have the options "One Column," Default (basically destop mode), and Desktop view. Turning "Fit to Screen" off on Pocke 2002 basically makes it go into "Desktop" mode. So, in short, there is *no* noticable "viewing" difference. On the other hand, let's compare it to the Nokia Mini Map Browser on Symbian 3 Series 60 platform. BIG difference. Despite most Symbian phones having a smaller screen than most PDAs (or the same size screen as Microsoft Mobile 'Smart Phone' devices), the usability (and speed) of these Symbian devices is -- to be frank -- years ahead of Microsoft. Try navigating on a PDA with IE and then switch to a Symbian Series 60 3 phone and navigate -- the Symbian phone, despite a smaller processor (generally) and smaller screen, is a much more usable experience.

Microsoft -- I love you guys, but you need to get on the ball dudes. I'm about to drop some serious cash on a new mobile phone, and Microsoft's effort does NOT impress me enough to drop the cash on a Windows Mobile 5 powered device. The only thing that has remotely interested me in Microsoft's offering was its access to Skype, but since fring has support for the Symbian platform, and works like a charm, looks like Nokia is once again going to get my money.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Well, about 2 years ago, I posted how Skype would be a killer app on Symbian, and a hell of a lot of people in the blogosphere agreed (or had been stating this obvious fact already before I even thought about mentioning it) ... Well, you don't really have to wait any longer, sort of. (I am a bit late with this, but better later than never)

Skype still hasn't bothered to put out their own client application yet for the Symbian platform, but a third-party provider has -- it's called fring & it is currently FREE:

Being a total looser and still using my old school Symbian 1 Nokia 7650 (I have broken all of my previous phones ... S-E P900 (cracked screen), Nokia 9210i (broken keyboard), N-Gage (lost it), I have yet to test it to any great extent, but I did manage to get to play with it on my business partner's Nokia N95 (a total bad ass phone btw ... Nokia, why don't you send me one?). The voice quality for both SkypeOut and normal Skype-to-Skype calls was pretty good over EDGE ... can't complain. Check out it out and let me know what you think. The rumor is another company does something similar, but I could not find any other company via Google.